


Fairytales

by darkrogue1 (Lily_Haydee_Lohdisse)



Category: Kyou Kara Maou!
Genre: M/M, but I'm told I'm biased
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-05-26
Updated: 2007-05-26
Packaged: 2018-07-29 14:35:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7688209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lily_Haydee_Lohdisse/pseuds/darkrogue1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Conrad believes he has no hope, he is not the third son after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fairytales

**Author's Note:**

> Pairing: WYSIWYG ^^ (What you see is what you get)… is see Conyuu, but I’m told I’m biased.  
> 
> 
> Inspired by:  
>  \- Howl’s Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (read it !), where you find out in the first paragraph that as the eldest of three daughters living in a land where fairytales are true, Sophie Hatter believes she will have no chance in finding fortune.  
>  \- Grimm’s Golden Bird, a zen story, and other fairytales of the world.  
>  \- [](http://ynm.livejournal.com/profile)[**ynm**](http://ynm.livejournal.com/) 's comment
> 
> Beta-read by [](http://hisoka44.livejournal.com/profile)[**hisoka44**](http://hisoka44.livejournal.com/)

  
Conrad stared hopelessly at the water in the pond. He could not snap out of his melancholy. He just knew it was hopeless; after all, there were rules.  
  
"This really is like a fairytale," Yuuri had commented earlier to Wolfram about his life in Shinmakoku.  
  
Just like a fairytale… And in fairytales, of this world or the other -- Yuuri’s -- wherever there were three sons, the two older ones invariably failed while the youngest reaped all the love and riches. The youngest, fairest brother would win the end, rescue and marry the princess while his brothers had to be saved by him after -- or before -- trying to smite him out of jealousy.  
  
Conrad could not help but think over and over again that he was the second-born child, and thus doomed to fail. Would he one day end up trying to harm his younger brother as well ? It was even a worse thing to think… that he could let his jealousy come to such a point.  
  
"Hi, Conrad !" Yuuri’s voice startled him from his reveries. "What’s wrong ?"  
  
Conrad smiled. "Nothing is wrong, Your Majesty."  
  
Yuuri frowned. "Except you won’t call me by name…"  
  
"I’m sorry. Nothing is wrong, Yuuri." Conrad felt pathetic… but he grasped at whatever small thing he could have, and Yuuri talking to him a bit longer -- were it only to reprimand him -- was such a thing.  
  
"Why can’t I believe you ?" Yuuri said, in a mock-joking voice. He was serious. " What is wrong ?" He repeated. "You have been looking sad lately. I worry."  
  
Conrad felt bad. Yuuri was not supposed to worry, besides… "It’s nothing," he answered.  
  
Yuuri looked at him weirdly. "You know you can tell me anything, right ? I mean… I always can talk to you, so if you want to you could do the same to me. That’s what friends are for… We are friends, right ?"  
   
Conrad smiled a forced smile. "Yes, Yuuri, we are." We are only that, he thought.  
  
Yuuri prodded on. "So? Tell me, you’ll feel better. Mother… I mean mamma always says that it‘s better when you can share your problems."  
  
"I…" Conrad wavered. He wanted to tell Yuuri why, he wanted Yuuri to know why… but how could he tell that to the young man ? That he loved him and felt jealous of his brother. Wolfram would not forgive him.  
  
"Do I have to make it an order ?" Yuuri said jockingly, and surprisingly, Conrad answered seriously, nearly relieved.  
  
"Yes, please."  
  
"All right then." Yuuri was surprised. He could tell Conrad needed to talk, but what was it that needed an order from him ? It must really disturb Conrad a lot. "As your king I order you to tell me what is wrong."  
  
Conrad took a deep breath. "I‘m the second son," he began, and Yuuri listened attentively. "You said it yourself," he explained. "This world is like from a fairytale… And in every fairytale, even in your world… it always ends badly for first and second sons."  
  
Yuuri’s face was compassionate but did not seem to agree much, so Conrad went on. "It’s always the same scheme. Three sons are sent on a quest, and the first and second one fail, either because they are lazy, bad men or simply because they are incompetent… Then the fair third son comes and wins it all, saving his brothers in the process… And sometimes they are so bad that they even try to kill him to present the results of the quest as their winnings… I‘m the second son," Conrad repeated. His face clearly expressed what he thought however: he was hopeless.  
  
Yuuri had listened to his whole argument but gently scolded him when he had finished. "It‘s not always true," he said, and he sat down on the grass, gesturing Conrad to sit beside him. "Let me tell you a story."  
  
"Once upon a time," he began, and Conrad’s eyes were fixed on him, taking his words in. "...there was a master of swordsmanship who had three sons." Conrad tensed but said nothing.  
  
"A friend of his came to visit and the master wanted to show him how much his sons had progressed in the Sword’s Way. So he set up a trap, putting a vase on the top of the door, so that it would fall when someone opened it. Then he sat back with his friend and called his youngest son.  
  
"The youngest son arrived from another part of the house and opened the door. The vase bumped on him, but he managed to catch it before it fell to the floor. ‘This is my youngest son,’ the father introduced him to his friend. ‘He is quick but impulsive, and has yet much to learn.’  
  
"He set the vase back then and called his second son. The second son arrived in front of the door, paused then opened it. The vase stayed in place ; as he had opened the door, the son had put up a hand to prevent the vase from falling. He closed the door and greeted his father and the friend. ‘This is my second son,’ the father introduced him then. ‘ He is already well advanced on the Way of the Sword.’  
  
"Then the master called his firstborn son, but he did not arrive immediately, so he called him again. Immediately thereafter the room’s opposite door opened and the son answered. ‘You called, father ?’ He had gone around the house to enter the room through the back door and this time the vase was left undisturbed. ‘This is my eldest son,’ the father introduced him. ‘He will very soon be a master of his own.’ And the friend was impressed by the son’s feat. "  
  
Conrad let out a relieved sigh as the story ended.  
  
"So you see, Conrad," Yuuri explained. "In my country, tales also say that age and experience are better." Conrad nodded.  
  
Still Yuuri could see that Conrad was not completely reassured. He was the second son, not the first.  
  
Yuuri timidly smiled at Conrad then. "You know, I don‘t completely agree with the story‘s morale," he told him. "I prefer the second son because he answered quickly and efficiently, even if he took the risk to slightly disturb the vase."  
  
Conrad smiled then, and Yuuri was happy to have lifted Conrad’s gloomy mood. Everything was right again.  
  
As they went back to the castle Conrad could still hear Yuuri’s voice echo in his ears, and he had warm hope again in his heart. "I prefer the second son," Yuuri had said.


End file.
